The Charlotte Bobcatswill match up against the No. 8 seed Atlanta Hawks on Monday night for the second time this season in Time Warner Cable Arena. The Cats have dropped both meetings with the Hawks and are looking to gain some ground on their foes in the rear view.

The Hawks trail the Cats in the East seeding by 2.5 games and will take this contest just like a playoff game. Every single game in this near season-ending period carries extreme importance, and Atlanta is clearly looking to move up higher in the rankings

The Hawks are known to be a hot 3-point shooting team. They will enter the game as the fifth-best downtown shooting team in the entire NBA. Led by sniper Kyle Korver, Atlanta is shooting .379 from behind the deep line. Why should the Cats closely guard the three? Not just because the shot has the power to change a game entirely, but its clear that Charlotte has struggled to guard the deep ball effectively at times. Korver’s recent streak of 127 straight games with a three was an NBA record.

If the Cats can’t contain the Hawks’ 3-point shooting, then it could entirely change the tempo of the game, and the team might have to struggle to claw back from a deficit. Charlotte’s defense needs to come out hot with solid on-ball defense to limit the Hawks’ long-ball shooting. If their 3′s are suppressed, then it only gives the Bobcats a better shot of coming out on top.

Daniel Carney covers the Charlotte Bobcats for rantsports.com. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_jcarney, subscribe to him on YouTube where he talks sports, and add him on Google+.